CHENNAI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday conducted searches in eight locations in the city and arrested a trader for allegedly possessing unaccounted cash, ganja and gold, among other things. The authorities made recoveries worth Rs 1 crore, which included Rs 82 lakh in cash, 300 gm of gold, 1,000 Singapore dollars and 10 kg of ganja.
The searches were conducted after authorities had thwarted an attempt in Kochi to allegedly revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The arrested man was identified as Muhammad Iliyaz, who runs a shop at Burma Bazaar.
The surprise checks were conducted based on a specific tip. At least six NIA officials from the Kochi NIA had come to the city and conducted the surprise check at specific locations and in a shop functioning at the Evening Bazaar near the RBI subway. Nearly 50 police personnel from the Armed Reserve unit helped the NIA officials. The raid started on Thursday afternoon and went on till 9 pm. NIA officials took Iliyaz to Kochi for questioning.
In December 2022, the NIA arrested nine people from the Sri Lankan refugee camp in Tiruchy. All of them were allegedly connected to Haji Salim, a drug dealer operating out of Pakistan. Haji Salim is suspected to be related to the incident where a boat carrying 300 kg of heroin, five AK-47 assault rifles, and 1,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition was intercepted by Indian defence forces in March 2021 near Kerala’s Vizhinjam port.